FSU's Ian Miller and Mercer's Lawrence Brown scramble for a loose ball on Saturday. The Mercer Bears beat the Florida State Seminoles, 61-56 before a stunned civic crowd on Sunday, December 2, 2012.

Written by

Jim Henry
| Democrat assistant sports editor

The growing pains that Florida State men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton expected his team to experience this season were painfully obvious on Sunday.

The Seminoles lacked consistency on both ends of the floor. Their energy level sputtered at times. And, adding to the frustration, they lost at home against a team that was solid - but certainly not superior.

Langston Hall and Travis Smith each sank a pair of free throws in the final 23 seconds to lift Mercer to the 61-56 win over FSU before a hushed Civic Center crowd of 6,088. ...